Rebs' outside shooting counters Carroll's focus on big frontline

BLOCK PARTY: Carroll County’s Brandon Stewart defends Owen County ball-handler Justin Shelton (above) during Thursday’s game in Carrollton. Shelton got back quick enough on defense to block Trey Boles’ shot (below) on a breakaway. Owen County won 60-42. (Staff photos by David Campbell)

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Carroll County's decision to concentrate its defense on Owen County's towering frontline backfired after the Rebels knocked down 10 3-pointers in a 60-42 basketball win Thursday in Carrollton.

The Panthers, at a disadvantage due to injuries to post players Dallas Gibson and Dakota Corbin, settled into an active 3-2 zone in an effort to slow down Owen's Carson Williams and Justin Shelton, both at least 6-foot-6.

For the most part the ploy worked. Williams finished with 16 points but got most of those late while Shelton added just six.

Where the plan broke down was behind the arc. Zach Ripy knocked down six 3-pointers on nine attempts and finished with a game-high 22 points while Hunter Trenary added four more long-range shots.

The result was a 10-for-22 (45 percent) performance for the Rebels on 3-pointers but Carroll County coach Carroll Yager felt like he had little choice.

"We didn't want Williams to beat us down low. We know he is tough," Yager said. "We were going to do everything we could to keep the ball away from him and get out on their shooters. I thought our slides got a little slower as the game wore on. Ripy's a good player. You've got to give him credit. He was making plays."

Carroll County (13-9, 2-2 North Central Kentucky, 3-4 District 31) played well enough defensively and knocked down enough shots to stay in the game early.

After falling behind 5-2 three minutes in, the Panthers closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run - fueled mainly by Owen turnovers - to take a 10-5 lead into the second.

Owen County (18-5, 5-1 NCKC, 6-2 District) took control of the game in the second quarter. After Carroll's Jay Damron hit a shot to open the quarter, the Rebels went on a 10-0 run to move ahead 15-12.

Patrick Booth hit a 3-pointer and knocked down a two that gave Carroll its final lead of the game. Ripy, who hit four treys in the second quarter, made a three to give Owen back the lead and then hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Rebels ahead 23-18 at halftime.

The rest of the game belonged to Owen. Trenary got hot in the third quarter and hit three 3-pointers of his own as the Rebels built a 38-25 cushion. Williams then took over in the fourth to close out the win.

"I thought we played a real good first half and at the start of the second half we had a couple of bad offensive possessions where we got away from what we were trying to do," Yager said. "We got down nine or 10 and it kind of changed what we were trying to do. As the clock kept ticking we knew had to do something if we wanted to win the game. A couple of things we tried to do (Owen) handled."

Carroll County shot a respectable 46 percent (17-of-37) from the floor and 4-of-10 (40 percent) from 3-point range but the Panthers were outrebounded 31-9. The combination of the zone and a smaller lineup left Carroll vulnerable in the paint.

"We had only two offensive rebounds which means we only got two second chances. It's hard to win like that," Yager said. "We basically had four guards on the floor and if we see Owen again, we're going to have to do a better job of rebounding. And I think we saw some things that we can do differently."

Trey Boles scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead Carroll County. He also had four rebounds for nearly half of his team's total.

In addition to Ripy and Williams, Trenary scored 14 points for Owen, which shot 52 percent (24-for-46) from the floor.

Carroll returns to action tonight for another boys-girls doubleheader, this one at Grant County.